Four Part Harmony
by ficanicbasket
Summary: Sam's broken an addiction to demon blood, overcome Lucifer, and managed not to throttle his brother for twenty-nine years.  Brokering musical peace between an Angel of the Lord and his decidedly unangelic brother should be no big deal, right?


Pairing: (Gen) Dean, Castiel, Sam, Bobby

Rating: PG (language)

Warnings: Profanity.

Spoilers: End of season 5. Set in some ill-defined time that could be season 6 or could be AU.

Notes: This is all my evil twin's fault. You can listen to Apocalyptica on their website or here the song in question at this Youtube link (.com/watch?v=x97f-_y93a0&feature=related).

Summary: Sam's broken an addiction to demon blood, overcame Lucifer, and managed not to throttle his brother for twenty-nine years. Brokering musical peace between an Angel of the Lord and his decidedly unangelic brother should be no big deal, right?

Everyone has their breaking point. For Sam, it was 3 weeks of Castiel popping in and out of the Impala, crinkling his nose in disgust at the "racket" coming from the speakers. Once Castiel had asserted that the high-frequency radio static his true voice caused in any nearby electronic device sounded better than the umpteenth replay of Axl Rose's vocal pyrotechnics. "I fail to see why this assault on my eardrums is necessary." "Cas, the shit you want to play has harps. Didn't you get enough of those when you lived in the clouds? Besides, my baby is too much of a dude's car to have that played in it. It'd make me look bad. It'd offend my baby's ears." The lecture over whether the Impala can be animate enough to have ears ("Cas, you've got wings, and we can't see them. Maybe my baby has got some ears tucked away, too.") feels like it lasts longer than the lectures over how Sam drives the car.

Thank goodness the state of Nebraska actually does have an end and they reach Bobby's. Sam greets Bobby, dumps his duffel in the room, and runs out to the salvage yard to find a spot to enjoy the sound of wind blowing by. The wind, and the crickets, are surprisingly loud, but they're more of a harmonious hum than the discord in the car. Eventually, the increasing chill in the air and a rumbly stomach force Sam back inside. He hopes the rest of his odd little family is eating dinner, although having food in his mouth still won't stop Dean from talking.

Peace doesn't last much after dinner. Cas is going through Bobby's very limited music collection, putting on anything that catches his interest. Dean is getting increasingly frustrated both by Bobby's taste and the ADD angel who listens only to the beginnings of a few songs and then switches again. Sam gives up on trying to read the newspaper quietly in a corner and attempts to suggest something, anything to find common ground while Bobby grunts and disappears into the kitchen to get himself the bottle of whiskey, since the tumbler full just isn't cutting it.

"November Rain had strings!"

"_And _an electric guitar. You know, musical instruments invented in this century."

"You like Johnny Cash, and he played an acoustic."

"Give it over, Sam, there's nothing you're going to be able to find that's going to suit tightwad over here and me."

If we lived in the world of Scott Pilgrim, there would probably appear a flashing neon sign above Sam's head reading "CHALLENGE: ACCEPTED." Sam's broken an addiction to demon blood, overcame Lucifer, and managed not to throttle his brother for twenty-nine years.

A long-ago conversation with a black eyelinered goth chick at a bar filters back into Sam's mind, and he determinedly - while the altercation goes on in front of him, Bobby steadily sucking down mouthfuls of booze - pulls out the laptop. Sam finds the band he was looking for quickly and shouts for Dean and Cas to shut up.

Dean, always one for talking and rarely one for listening, only takes the span of a few breaths to word-vomit that there's no new good music on the internet and he already has everything he needs, no matter how much the halo patrol in the backseat may think he has input. "Dean, some of those bands have put out new albums! Just think, new AC/DC! New Metallica!" None of which will solve the immediate problem, but it might at least open Dean to letting Sam try to put an iPod in the car, since digital-to-tape converters are just about impossible to find.

"DEAN JUST LISTEN", erupts Sam, as he pushes play. The opening notes of a cello playing a mournful, delicate tune begins to stream out, and Cas's face relaxes. Sam can tell Dean is about ready to interject when the other cellos join in, and Dean finally recognizes the melody.

Dean's eyes get very, very wide, and Sam has a sudden flashback to watching the Muppets in motel rooms as a kid and watching Gonzo's eyes get impossibly wide with shock. Sam knows that eyes can pop out of their sockets (_gross_), but he doesn't think that can happen... Wait, they're Winchesters. Anything can happen, especially if it's bad.

Sam pushes the pause button. Finally, blissful quiet.

"Dude. Was that Metallica?"

Victorious Smirk #4 - so rarely used around Dean compared to the suite of bitchfaces - settles in on Sam's face as he informs Dean that, yes, it was indeed Metallica's "Fade to Black", played on cellos by 4 Finnish music students. Cas tells Sam, in his grave voice that always only hints at all the other emotions going on underneath, that "that was very nice, Sam." Dean is weighing it in his mind. Sam is fairly sure of his victory, until Dean gets a dyspeptic look, begins turning red, and starts twisting his face into forms Sam's only seen on rollercoasters.

All 3 other men stare at Dean, and Sam half-gets up out of his chair, prepared to do the Heimlich on his brother, even though Dean hasn't eaten anything since before they finished dinner.

Dean takes a deep breath, takes another deep breath, and finally, at last, says, "We can try the iPod. But no permanent hook-up you understand?" Cas steps over to Dean, standing well within the "Personal space, Cas" bubble. He tilts his head and tells Dean thank you for listening to the music and being willing to try new things. Bobby does, in fact, choke on the whiskey at Sam's roll of his eyes. One small change. Maybe some day Dean will finally submit to buying new clothes or believing that his brother is not, in actuality, still 12. Sam can once again leave the angel alone in the car with his brother without fearing blood being spilled in the precious Impala, although the day he and Cas figure out the staring is still far off. Sam wonders if he can rig up a remote to the iPod to start it playing "Let's Get It On" once he's trapped Dean and Cas in there.

Baby steps. Plotting to ensure more of his brother's happiness can come later.

Dean steps over to the laptop and pushes play on the next track. Not caring that there's no vocal track, Dean adds one anyway.

Ok, maybe it wasn't a complete save of Sam's eardrums.

Again: Baby steps.


End file.
